No to Nukes: Australia’s Stand

At present, Australia only uses its cooling towers for non-nuclear power plants to generate electricity. The country’s source of electricity falls on two categories, fossil fuels (86.9%) and renewable energy (13.1%), according to BREE 2014 Australian Energy Statistics on Table O. They only use their enormous stock of uranium for medical and industrial purposes. That is why they built OPAL (Open Pool Australian Light-water Reactor) last 2006, a nuclear research reactor to serve this objective.  

In addition, Australia is the major supplier of this sought-after hazardous product, the uranium, dominating 30-40% exports worldwide. Although, they have the capability to build nuclear power plants, up to this day they’re still against it.

“It has always been the case that in order for nuclear power to be considered a viable domestic energy source, it will ­require bipartisan political support and widespread community acceptance. The fact remains that community ­acceptance for nuclear power has been undermined by the Fukushima incident,” said Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane in an interview by Daily Telegraph.

Apparently, the stigma and fear for this powerful yet destructible energy source will never waver. As long as incidents such as what happened at Chernobyl and Fukushima may occur, a G20 member – Australia for this instance – will never open their doors to such inevitable threat.

They’re more interested in pursuing renewable energy resources particularly from solar and wind. Ironically speaking, Fukushima met its unfortunate fate due to nature’s indescribable and immeasurable force. Now, we must return to its cradle in order to survive the next thirty or so years. Other renewable resources Australia is currently harnessing are bioenergy, hydro, and geothermal. It seems the country is one of the supporters of Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) program launched on September 2011by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

SE4ALL has three objectives, one of which is “doubling the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix” by 2030. Renewable energy is eco-friendly and cheap compared to fossil fuels that contribute to air pollution worldwide. This global initiative is same as “hitting two birds with one stone” approach. It doesn’t only solve the problem of energy or electricity shortage in the future. This may also lessen the impact of climate change that we are experiencing right now.

In this way, we don’t have to resort on desperate actions such as extracting electricity from nuclear power plants. As always, nature has everything we need in terms of natural resources and all we have to do is search for it and seize it. In return, we must be responsible ambassadors of our planet so it could still be available for the future generations.

 Article Written By: www.heatexchangers.com.au